Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) are used in factory environments to assist with inventory management by transporting parts from one area of the factory to another. For example, parts may be loaded on an AGV in a staging area. Once the parts are loaded, the AGV may drive to an assembly area where the parts are unloaded and used in assembly processes. The AGV may travel from the staging area to the assembly area based on a control system and without intervention from users.
In some environments, robots may be used to load and/or unload parts from the AGVs. To facilitate reliable unloading of the parts from the AGVs, the position of the AGVs relative to the robots should be accurate and repeatable. Previously, AGVs would drive to docking stations affixed to the floor of the factory. Once robots had loaded or unloaded parts from the AGVs, the AGVs would reverse their immediately preceding direction of travel as to back away from the docking stations and then continue along a pre-determined path.
However, sequential reversal of direction of AGVs may cause unpredictable rotational behavior of casters, which provide support to the AGVs. This unpredictable rotational behavior of the casters may prevent the AGVs from following the pre-determined path. Failure to follow the pre-determined path may cause AGVs to go off course, which may initiate a fault that forces the AGVs to become inoperable. Accordingly, docking stations that meet to stop AGVs without requiring reversal of the direction of travel of the AGVs, may be desired.